In case you want to know
by Melanie Geller
Summary: Emma Geller looks back upon a day that marks the end and beginning of something wonderful: May 6th, 2004. (Post-finale fic contest over at F-B, my entry!)


**_Hi, all! This is my entry for the post-finale fic contest over at F-B. :) _**

**_I hope you enjoy!_**

_OOOOO_

_May 6th, 2017_

"So, do you want to know?" My friend Grace sits on my striped sofa-bed, legs crossed and face grinning.

"Know what?" I sling my feet over the side and let my fingers trace the lines in the cream colored carpet.

"You know..." Her voice trails off, hinting at a subject I try at all costs to avoid.

"Uh, Grace? I really don't know what you're talking about." I can feel my face blushing right now, and I guarantee you it's not looking pretty.

"Emma Geller!" She chucks a throw pillow at my head. Lovely. "You know exactly what I'm talking about." Raising her reddish eyebrows, she grins at me. "Trent and I were alone last night...together."

Is there no sanctity in this world? Do I have to know every detail of her life? I'll admit this story is bound to be better than last weeks topic: Grace gets her hair highlighted...but still. Something tells me that I've got to have better things to do than sit around and listen to my next door neighbor ramble on about her sexual escapades.

I'll be sixteen in less than a month. Of course, I don't feel like it, but do you ever actually come to terms with your age right after turning it?

Good God. I sound like my mother. Especially after she turned forty. Lord, that was an all-out nightmare. The months leading up to her big four-oh remain blurred in my mind, the gag gifts, the surprise party, a rather disconcerting batch of lingerie from my Aunt Phoebe...but that's a different story.

You know, it's times like these that I let my mind wander. My father has always said, "When Emma allows her mind to drift, look out. You never know where it might end up."

I suppose he is referencing to the times when I've almost killed the both of us driving as I spaced out, or that rather unfortunate incident involving my little sister Nicole's hamster, Chilli. (May he rest in peace.)

But really, it's the times like these that he should be worried about. I sit here, pretending to be immensely interested in my light auburn split ends, polluting my ears with Grace's chatter.

As she mentions something about a candle related mishap, I wonder something. Grace, like me, is almost sixteen. But does she know nearly what I do? I clear my throat. "Grace, did you use a condom?"

"Well, yeah!" She smacks my leg. I'll either have a bruise, or be forever branded by the handprint of Satan's potential apprentice.

Slightly tarnished memories of my childhood flood my mind. "You know they're only 97 effective, though, right?"

She blows me off. "Yeah, Em, but nothing really happens! They just put that on there because they have to. Like, what, two babies were born even though the people used a condom?"

I feel like raising my hand and pasting a sign on my head that says, "Number Two." Then, I think about the double meaning behind this and cringe. Never mind.

"Anyway, we're fine. Condoms always work."

Tell that to my parents, I think.

"So," she semi-squeals. "Do you want to hear the details?" Without asking my permission, she launches into this story like she does with each new one upon every coming week. "Just thought you'd like to know, Em...it was great! So, without further ado, and because I hardly ever see you anymore, welcome to edition twenty-two of The Life and Times of Grace Wilder."

Welcome to Hell is more like it. No wonder her parents decided to send her to that Catholic all-girls school.

"It all began last night..."

And that's about all I can take of this. Nodding enthusiastically, my eyes flicker across my bedroom walls. Science fair awards that I'd received with the help of my father. A Miss Scarsdale trophy I'd won at the insistence of my mother. Little traces of me scatter themselves across the floor: CDs, Milky Way candy bar wrappers, hidden editions of Cosmo, and my journals. When my eyes meet the calendar, I am struck by the date: May 6th.

I've heard so many renditions of the events taking place on this day, about thirteen years ago.

My mom says she cried until her eyes became puffy, a condition even her best concealer couldn't mend.

My dad says that he finally won my mom back, and that ever-complicated relationship was cemented for good.

My Uncle Chandler makes sarcastic remarks involving the happenings, but I know that he just tries to mask his nostalgic longings.

The others agree, it was the day one era ended and the next began. I'm guessing that you'd have to have been there in order to know what they were talking about. Ironically, I was. But do I remember it?

Eh, sort of.

Some people say that one day can change everything.

I'll let you be the judge.  
----

_May 6th, 2004_

"Well, do you want to get some coffee?" Rachel sniffed through her tears.

Chandler nodded, glancing back at his old apartment and memories, and forward at the double stroller in his hands. "Sure." They continued out the door. "Where?"

Reaching over, Monica smacked him lightly on the side as they closed the door behind them.

"What?" He pretended to be confused. "The apartment wouldn't know what was going on if my last comment wasn't witty."

"I just can't believe I'm never coming back into this building again," lamented Phoebe as she and Joey stood at the top of the staircase.

"Uh, Pheebs? I still live here," Joey raised his eyebrows.

Pulling away slightly from Ross's embrace, it dawned on Rachel. "Yeah. So do I."

"So why are we acting like it's the end of the world all of the sudden?" Phoebe proceeded down the stairs, Joey following suit.

"Well, Chandler and I are still moving," Monica offered.

"That's true. But here we are, all of us falling apart like someone is going to die." Phoebe surveyed the group with a concerned look from the bottom stair. "Nobody ate that meat in Joey's refrigerator, did they?"

"Uh-oh," came a whisper from the bottom of the stairs.

"I was only kidding!" Phoebe shrieked in a nervous voice. Turning back around, she looked frantically at her friends, shaking her head and mouthing, "No, I wasn't!"

"It's okay, Pheebs. Emma tried to eat it the other day when she was playing in the kitchen and I threw it away," said Rachel.

"Uh, what?" Ross pulled away from Rachel. "She was playing in the kitchen?"

"She likes to play inside the drawers."

"So you un-baby proofed them?"

"Ross, she has thousands of dollars worth of toys just sitting there, and she gets the greatest amount of entertainment from banging around some pots and pans."

"I can't believe you let her play in the kitchen, with all those knives laying around!"

"For one, I took the knives out. For two, it's no more dangerous than the park with those awful swings." She shuddered.

"At least there's no spiders." He glanced thoughtfully at Rachel. "Maybe this means she'll be a great chef."

"Well, someone should use that kitchen over there," Rachel rolled her eyes and welcomed herself into Ross's arms again.

"Uh, guys?" Monica glanced at Ross and Rachel. "Do you think we should move down the stairs a little quicker here? If you haven't noticed, you're sort of blocking me, Chandler, and the twins."

"God, that's weird to hear," Rachel whispered to Ross as she gave him a slight nudge to keep moving down the stairs.

"What's weird to hear?"

Rachel stopped again, bringing the crowd to a halt: Phoebe and Joey in the lead, Ross and Rachel in the middle, and Chandler, Monica, and their new family bringing up the end.

"Nothing," Rachel blushed. "Just that you and Chandler have twins now."

Monica smiled. "I know!" As if on cue, one of the twins began to cry. "Oh my God! The baby is crying!"

Placing a hand on her shoulder, Chandler made a stab at calming her down. "Mon, that's what babies do."

"I know! But we're on the stairs! Babies aren't supposed to cry in the middle of staircases. They- they're supposed to cry inside apartments and their bedrooms." Though she longed for children, Monica's need to comfort her own was nothing short of neurotic.

"Monica!" Phoebe said from the lead of the stair-train. "The baby will stop crying. Just wait until we make it down the stairs." With that, she began to walk, as did Ross and Rachel.

"But shouldn't I take it out of the stroller?"

"Here?" Wondered Chandler. "Hang on a minute."

"Oh my God!" She leaned on the wall to steady herself. "I don't even know which baby is crying!"

"Honey, I think it's Erica."

"You think? Shouldn't we know how to distinguish between our own children's cries?"

"Mon," Rachel called out, as they were nearing the landing. "You've known them for like two days. And besides, all baby cries sound the same."

"Yeah," added Joey. "Sort of like really bad TV static. Phoebe shot him a warning look. "I mean, it's like the music of a thousand bluebirds..."

Chandler rolled his eyes. "And my indigestion sounds like a million children laughing to the tune of singing doves in the summertime."

"Man, you know what I mean!"

Before long, Monica couldn't take it anymore. "No, seriously. Just let me see which one is crying!"

Chandler pulled the stroller away, lifting it down the stairs to the tune of an infant whimper. "Sweetie, we're almost there."

"You don't understand, I've got to see!" Pushing her way in front of Chandler to peer in the stroller, Monica tripped over her own feet, and went sailing down the stairs in front of Ross and Rachel.

"Oh my God, Mon!" Phoebe shrieked upon hearing the clatter behind her. "Are you okay?"

"It's Jack. Jack's crying." Before fluttering her eyes and drifting off into a subconscious universe, she grinned. "Chandler, can you get Jack? I hear him crying. Okay. Goodnight."

After making sure she was breathing, Joey began to laugh. Shakily at first, the others joined in until they were all trapped on the staircase, howling at their predicament.

"Chandler, you'd better pick her up," remarked Ross. "Rachel's mom is waiting in the lobby with Emma and she's going to take off and leave her if we don't get down there."

"She wouldn't do that, Ross," muttered Monica.

"Oh, she's up!" Phoebe clapped her hands together. Realizing her friend could be hurt, she bent down next to Monica. "How do you feel?"

"Dizzy. What happened?"

"Well, Jack was crying and you pretty much freaked out," Chandler giggled hesitantly.

"Is that the buzzing sound I hear?"

Smiling, Ross helped her to her feet. "Uh, sure."

"But I don't hear him crying anymore-" began Joey.

"I do!" Screamed Rachel, in an effort to cover up Joey's mistake.

"Really?" Monica looked around the cramped stair well. "Maybe I should help him."

"Uh, Mon? Let's see about getting you down the stairs in one piece, okay?" Phoebe could tell right now, motherhood was going to be Monica's dream and everyone else's potential nightmare.

"Okay," she muttered.

With much effort, the gang of six adults and two infants made their way down the stairs.

Finally, they made it down to the lobby.

"Mom?" Rachel called out, peering across the length of the floor for his mother.

"Mama!" Emma came teetering along the tiled floors.

"Oh, sweetie, I missed you so much!" She smoothed the toddler's brown hair, kissing her rosy cheeks.

"Aw, how sweet," mused Phoebe. "You'd think they'd been separated for years!"

"Well, I missed my daughter," cooed Rachel as she scooped Emma up.

"So should we get that coffee now? I'm getting sort of hungry..." Joey trailed off.

"Yeah, sure," Monica stumbled into the conversation, still reeling from her fall.

As Chandler brought up the group from behind, he couldn't help but think of what a strange group of friends they all made.

"Oh my God. That's the last time we'll all walk out of that building together!" Once again, Phoebe had hit a sore topic. Not only had it taken nearly ten minutes for them to make it out of the apartment building, but they had gone so slowly to preserve the moment, etch it in stone within their souls.

"Phoebe," Rachel rolled her eyes.

"If you want, we can go back in and restage it," offered Ross.

"No!" Seeing that the others were taken aback, Monica retreated. "I mean, no. That part of my life is over now...and this new part is beginning. I just want to, you know, put what's behind me behind me and only look at what's going to come."

"Yeah," Rachel agreed, looking at an unknowing Ross. She smiled. "I think I'm beginning to understand what you mean."

"Me too," nodded Chandler.

Shrugging, Phoebe agreed, and Ross joined suit.

"Amen to that!" They were all surprised at Joey's remark, for typically he was the one to have the most trouble letting go.

"Really, Joe?" Chandler was astounded at his friend's growth in a matter of minutes.

"Yeah," he gestured in front of them. "There's the coffee shop. In front of me. And I'm ready to go closer." Rolling his eyes at the others, Joey proceeded.

"Wow, Central Perk looks really dark." Rachel set Emma down to walk, as she peered through the windows.

"Are they...closed?" Monica's voice dropped beneath a hush, almost mourning for the loss of the dependable haven.

"Wow, I didn't even know that they actually had hours," mentioned Ross.

"Yeah, me either." Cupping the glass, Phoebe spotted a sign. "Closed May 6th. Why?"

"I have no idea."

Laughed Joey, "Maybe they knew it was a big day for us and they didn't think we'd get any coffee today. Gunther's probably in mourning."

Red rushes of guilt crept their way up Rachel's cheekbones. "I hope not. Hey, he doesn't know I'm not going to Paris! Maybe if he's in there, I can try and go in to convince him-"

"Rach," Ross stopped her. "It's okay. We'll just get coffee somewhere else."

"Coffee from somewhere else?" Wailed Joey. "But, but that's like me ordering a ham sandwich instead of a meatball sub. It's just not right for our last time!"

Chandler placed a hand on Joey's shoulder. "Hey, there's a Starbucks down the block. I've never been there, but I hear they have great coffee."

"And Emma could get some hot chocolate or a biscotti," mentioned Monica. "And I could feed the twins! It's just another place we can show them off, Chandler!"

"Okay, calm down. They're children, not trophies," Chandler laughed.

"I know, but I'm so proud that they're ours," she whispered in his ear, slipping her hand into his.

"Me too."

Heading towards Starbucks, Joey reached for Emma's hand, and he was welcomed with a small sticky clutch.

"Hey, Em, do you want some coffee?" As he looked down, she peered through her bangs up at him, two marbles of blue underneath a cushion of light brown bangs. "Actually, you're probably too young, but I'm sure you'd like a biscuit or something, right?"

Revealing two small rows of pearly teeth, she scrunched her small nose and grinned at Joey. "Where?"  
----

_May 6th, 2017_

So there you have it. It's not groundbreaking by any means, but it was the end of something special...and the beginning of something wonderful.

See, when that door shut, something else opened for the six of them. They're all still really close today, but I don't think that anything can replace those ten years.

Now they have children to worry about, namely me.

But I sit here, staring at that calendar date, wondering what it would have been like to be in that group...to have a friendship so special.

I snap out of my daze and bring my attention back to Grace.

She smiles at me. "I'm glad I have you as my friend, Emma. It's great to have someone to talk to."

Though she may annoy me as much as my sister does, I do love Grace and all of her quirks. Well, not all. But some. "What was that for?"

She shrugs. "I don't know. I'm just glad we're friends. Just 'cause I thought you'd like to know."

I smile. "I'm glad, too."

And you know what?

I really am.

I thought you'd like to know.  
----

**_Thanks for reading! Sorry if it's bad, I wrote it very quickly. And I'm not feeling too good. lol. ;) You'd think because I'm lactose intolerant that I'd know not to eat cheese...but you can think a lot of things without them being right. ;)_**

**_Updates of other fics coming soon! (I'm working on finishing Love at First Sight and I actually have a new fic or two in the works. lol.)_**

**_Please review (if you want!)_**

**_Thanks,_**

**_Mel_**


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